DeKeyser, out of Western Michigan, has size (6-3, 200), excellent puck-moving abilities and what scouts are saying enough talent to play right away in the NHL.

That's the same thing that Flyers director of hockey operations Chris Pryor agreed with in a Friday interview. Pryor was part of a management team effort by the Flyers pursuing DeKeyser. That included a lobbying trip by club chairman Ed Snider in a meeting Wednesday in Toronto.

They weren't alone. Detroit general manager Ken Holland made a trip there to meet with DeKeyser and agent Don Meehan. Toronto, with its own hometown advantage, brought DeKeyser to a game and set him up in a luxury box Tuesday.

Other teams making serious pitches included Nashville, Edmonton and St. Louis, with many other suitors inquiring. The level of negotiatons were higher than what took place last month for 6-foot-8 defender Andrej Sustr from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He's now a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The negotiations for both Sustr and DeKeyser indicates the rising premium that defensive prospects are regarded in the NHL now. This at a time that the Flyers are thin in defensive depth, and have lost three regulars in the last six days to injuries.

Andrej Meszaros and Braydon Coburn have gone down with shoulder injuries and Nick Grossmann is day to day with an undisclosed upper body injury.